June 30, 2005

PHILADELPHIA - The University of Dayton welcomes Saint Louis University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as new members of the Atlantic 10 Conference today. The addition of the Saint Louis Billikens and Charlotte 49ers brings the A-10's membership to 14.

"This is an exciting time for all of us in the Atlantic 10 Conference," says conference commissioner Linda Bruno. "In Charlotte and Saint Louis, we are adding two members who will tremendously boost the national profile of all our sports and expose our programs to two new markets in which our universities actively recruit.

"As we begin our 30th anniversary season, the A-10 membership has never been as strong as it is now. I am very enthusiastic about the 2005-06 season and the future of the A-10."

Charlotte (School Website ; Athletics Website: Charlotte49ers.com) is located in Charlotte, North Carolina, has an enrollment of 19,608 and was founded in 1946. The 49ers wear green and white, and will compete in 13 Atlantic 10 sports (Baseball, Men's & Women's Basketball, Men's & Women's Cross Country, Men's Golf, Men's & Women's Soccer, Men's & Women's Tennis, Men's & Women's Track & Field, and Women's Volleyball).

Saint Louis (School Website ; Athletics Website: SLUBillikens.com), in St. Louis, Missouri, has an enrollment of 11,274 and was founded in 1818. The Billikens, with blue and white as their colors, will compete in 15 Atlantic 10 sports (Baseball, Men's & Women's Basketball, Men's & Women's Cross Country, Field Hockey, Men's Golf, Men's & Women's Soccer, Softball, Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving, Men's & Women's Tennis, and Women's Volleyball). Saint Louis also sponsors Women's Golf.

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is referred to as "Charlotte" with regards to their athletics program. Saint Louis does not abbreviate the word Saint like the city in which it is located does.

What is a Billiken? The Saint Louis Billikens are a familiar foe for the Dayton Flyers, as the two teams have met 33 times in men's basketball, including each of the past six seasons. What might not be so familiar is their unique moniker, the Billikens. What is a Billiken?

Billikens were initially manufactured as a bank promotion statuette -- a chubby character with pixie ears, fat cheeks and an ear-to-ear grin -- the Billiken reached its peak of popularity in 1911 as a symbol of good luck that became a national craze (think Cabbage Patch dolls, Pet Rocks or Beanie Babies).

Around the time of the craze, Saint Louis' football coach was a man named John Bender, who local sports writers claimed bore a striking resemblance to the Billiken figures. The sportswriters tabbed the football team "Bender's Billikens" and the name evolved into the official nickname of all SLU teams.

Scheduling With the additions of Charlotte and Saint Louis, the Atlantic 10 directors of athletics have adopted a revised scheduling for each A-10 sport. Men's and Women's Basketball will continue to play a 16-game conference schedule in one 14-team division.

Under the new regular season basketball scheduling model, each team will play three opponents twice and the remaining 10 opponents once. In 2006-07, the same opponents will be played with the sites reversed.

Below is a list of which men's basketball teams will face each other twice in 2005-06 and 2006-07:
Charlotte - UD, GW, UR
Dayton - CHA, SLU, XU
Duquesne - FOR, LAS, SBU
Fordham - DUQ, URI SBU
George Washington- CHA, UR, SJU
La Salle - DUQ, UM, TU
Massachusetts - LAS, URI, TU
Rhode Island - FOR, UM, SLU
Richmond - CHA, GW, SBU
St. Bonaventure - DUQ, FOR, UR
Saint Joseph's - GW, TU, XU
Saint Louis - UD, URI, XU
Temple - LAS, UM, SJU
Xavier - UD, SJU, SLU

Below is a list of which women's basketball teams will face each other in a home-and-home series in 2005-06 and 2006-07:
Charlotte - UR, SLU, XU
Dayton - DUQ, SLU, XU
Duquesne - UD, SBU, SLU
Fordham - URI, SBU, SJU
George Washington - UR, TU, XU
La Salle - UM, URI, SJU
Massachusetts - LAS, URI, SBU
Rhode Island - FOR, LAS, UM
Richmond - CHA, GW, TU
St. Bonaventure - DUQ, FOR, UM
Saint Joseph's - FOR, LAS, TU
Saint Louis - CHA, UD, DUQ
Temple - GW, UR, SJU
Xavier - UD, CHA, GW

The 2006 Atlantic 10 basketball championships will remain a 12-team tournament.

Other Sports Scheduling Models: Men's and Women's Soccer will compete in one division with a nine-game conference slate. Each team plays four pairs of travel partners per year, plus its own travel partner every year. The travel partners were selected at random and will rotate so that each team will play a home-and-away with every team in the league at least once over a six-year span. Each school's men's and women's team will play the same opponents with the sites reversed.

Dayton men's & women's soccer 2005 opponents: George Washington, LaSalle, Richmond, Charlotte, St. Bonaventure, Fordham, Xavier, Saint Joseph's and Temple.
2005 Dayton Men's Soccer Schedule
2005 Dayton Women's Soccer Schedule

Volleyball will play a divisional schedule, with a home-and-home game versus each team in the same division and one game versus the other division. Dayton will play in a division along with Duquesne, Rhode Island, Saint Louis and Xavier. The other division will be comprised of Charlotte, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle and Temple. The winner of each division as well as the next best two teams overall will compete in the Atlantic 10 Championships.
2005 Dayton Volleyball Schedule

Softball will play a full round-robin schedule among the 11 teams with one double-header against the other 10 opponents.

Baseball will play nine three-game series, with each game being nine innings with one division of 14. Each team has a designated rival to be played each year (Dayton is paired with Xavier) and the other eight opponents will rotate so that each team plays every conference foe home and away at least once in a three-year cycle.

Dayton's 2006 baseball opponents: LaSalle, St. Bonaventure, Richmond, Duquense, Xavier, Rhode Island, Charlotte, Fordham, Saint Louis.